COMMENTARY

Wrestling with Writing and
Blogs

By Scott RossThe 700 Club

CBN.com
 Writing for me is a real "booga bear." Love/hate,
on/off, hot/cold. As a result I am "anointed" in procrastination.
Consequently many complete, and incomplete written pieces lie fallow, and
uncultivated.

The mental gymnastics that I experience as I put off this often painful
exercise result in a fear of becoming the "play it safe, useless
servant not investing his talent but burying it."

However, when it comes to publishing these writings I think of the information
overload we all experience. My feeling is, I don't need to add to the
cacophony. Of course pride and a sense of self importance can tell you,
"Yeah, well you really have something important to say!" My
response is usually, "Let somebody else do it."

Another problem is, I don't want to get involved in the "publishing
game" and all the attended pitfalls. Some publishers and/or agents
I have talked to (and a few have shown interest) ultimately want me to
tone things down, and take the edge off these writings with comments like
"it's not what the market wants. It won't sell!" Frankly, what
the "market" (read that people) wants and what it needs are
often at odds. However, I am not adverse to editors and others that can
assist in crafting and honing my work.

I did experience both the pros and cons of the publishing game a number
of years ago when I co-authored my autobiography with John & Elizabeth
Sherrill, Scott Free. It was a real joy to work with John &
"Tib" but the rest of the game was one I would have preferred
to sit out. (Scott Free can be read and/or downloaded on our Website.)

The other comment: "It won't sell!" gets into the realm of
Prophets for Profit, or Profits for Prophets.

Not that I don't understand the need to pay the bills, but whatever happened
to, "Freely you have received, freely give?!" I won't pursue
that here but that syncretism, like a Trojan horse, has subtly and insidiously
penetrated the walls of the "City." (Another "fallow"
piece)

Further, one is expected to promote. This results in the demand to "hit
the circuit" for the accompanying marketing tours, autograph parties,
promotional appearances, and interviews, etc. For me, it's too much like
show "biz" and I left that years ago. (See Show
Biz for the Savior.)

Then too, my view of things is probably a bit off center. (There are
those who say that that is a reflection of my life.)

To boot, I have never been good at promoting the "company line."
(Not an oblique reference to the company I work for!) Or even my own work
for that matter. The adages, "Swimming against the stream, going
against the grain, marching to the sound of a different drummer,"
have become familiar voices to me over the years in regard to my radio,
TV, and public speaking roles. It's really not rebellion or trying to
be different; it just often reeks (to me) of compromise, or being politically
correct. ("Politically Incorrect Commandments" also lies "fallow"
in my computer.)

Which brings me to...

BLOGS!

"As hard as I have tried to speak in my own voice , I realize how
much of what I have said is neither original or unique. My expressions
echo and imitate the statements of others."- Robert Fulghum, contemporary author

Technology has changed how we communicate. Radio and television, once
passive activities, have become interactive with the advent of the Internet.
Add the telephone and you don't have to talk to yourself anymore.

With the "Web" came automated publishing systems and with it
the introduction of "new language."

Language is fluid, not static, and it changes with time. Words used in
the vernacular are eventually added to the lexicon of everyday usage.
"Internet" is one of those words and in the lingo of "cyberspace"
(another one) enter BLOGS!

I had never heard the word until recently when one of my co-workers,
in the course of a conversation about all this, and who is well versed
in the jargon of the Internet, threw it out there BLOGS!

Do you wanna' blog? Get blogged? Be blogged? Participate in blogging?
Be a blogger?

Before you answer that, here is the definition of BLOG according to the
NetLingo Internet Dictionary:

A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's
life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide
site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there
are people.

People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the
trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems,
most notably Blogger at blogger.com.

Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate
the publishing process. (Note that in light of what I said earlier in
regard to publishing.)

Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog"
seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also
mean a server's log files."

Some of you have actually participated in blogging without being aware
of it!

In recent months I have published a number of pieces ("Vanishing
Friends," "Winds of War" and "Vertigo Man Rides Again")
that I forwarded exclusively to my e-mail list. The response from many
people was stimulating, confirming, and encouraging. In some instances
it was corrective. On other occasions, another's insight filled in the
blank pieces completing a somewhat incomplete puzzle in my own thinking.

"Each one of us has special abilities," and "each part
supplies the whole."

What I didn't do was publish your responses. However, if we are going
to be true "bloggers," publish we must!

"The mouth has a warmer manner than the pen, but the pen's speech
lives longest, and is heard further and wider."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, (1834-1892) English pastor, preacher and
writer

Of course that statement pre-dates modern technology. It is interesting
that we have now returned to "Word Perfect," or more accurately,
the Perfect Word, via the Internet.

So, all of this to say, I am going to "publish" through the
Internet for a while and see where it goes.

"Break up the fallow (untilled, uncultivated) ground!"- The Prophets, Jeremiah and Hosea

That picture is taken from agricultural imagery. It means preparing,
and tilling uncultivated ground for planting seed. And you can be an integral
part of this by tilling the ground and scattering your seed. In "season"
we will see what kind of crop we will reap and harvest.

Shortly, I am going to " re-post" the "Vanishing Friends"
piece from a number of months ago, with many of the accompanying responses
I received at that time.

These comments will be edited for conciseness and, extremely personal
comments will be removed. Also, no names will be attached since I haven't
asked any of you permission to publish. In the future I will ask if we
may publish your name when I believe it merits it and others may want
to respond to you directly.

At no time will we publish names without permission.

So "blog" on guys and let's see where this takes us. With this
reminder:

"There is that in our characters which never can be seen except
in our writings; in fact, if you told your best friend half of what you
put upon paper, he would yawn in your face or he would think you a fool."
- Edward Bulwer 19th Century